Curriculum changes in store as students return to school

Tuesday

Aug 26, 2014 at 6:06 PM

By Ken Cleveland BANNER CORRESPONDENT

The schools were set to be again filled with students, with classes set to begin Wednesday, after The Banner went to press. After a busy summer, administrators said they had things ready – from course offerings to building upgrades.

West Boylston

"The town of West Boylston has moved forward to make its schools more energy efficient," West Boylston Superintendent of Schools Elizabeth Schaper said. "That work began this summer and we expect to have a new heating system in place by the start of the heating season."

When students returned to school Wednesday, some updated curriculum awaited.

"Grades K to 5 will use the highly acclaimed enVisions mathematics program and grades 6 to 8 selected new materials from McGraw-Hill. A K to 12 curriculum team worked for 10 months on the selection of these materials and the alignment of the mathematics curriculum to meet the newest Massachusetts Curriculum Standards," Schaper said.

The Middle School will expand the STEAM program into grade 7 next year, Schaper said, offering 50 students the opportunity for an extra course that integrates science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics and utilizes curriculum content developed by Project Lead the Way.

The high school continues to offer internships and the opportunity to take courses at local colleges.

"This year, 45 students will participate in the internship program which offers them the chance to intern in hospitals, schools, businesses, government offices and non-profit organizations," Schaper said. David Gustafson oversees the West Boylston interns.

Additionally, because the high school's block schedule mimics most college semester schedules, students are offered the chance to study at local colleges. Students from West Boylston take courses at Assumption College, College of the Holy Cross, Worcester State and Quinsigamond Community College.

Tahanto Regional

Middle/High School

The Boylston and Tahanto schools were welcoming some new faces among the staff as school started.

New teachers entered under a new facade for the Tahanto Regional Middle/High School.

That project was scheduled to be complete before the start of school, Superintendent of Schools Nadine Ekstrom said, ending a year with only frameworks in place.

"At Tahanto we have an entirely new music program beginning as we have a new band director-music teacher and chorus teacher," Ekstrom said. "These two teachers have been working together in developing a comprehensive music program, to build upon the wonderful program our previous teachers have provided to the Berlin and Boylston school districts for so many years."

The districts are still working on a director of finance position after the candidate took a position in another district. "So, we will be working with the school committee in identifying next steps."

The major focus this upcoming year will be reviewing data and the District-Determine Measures that were provided to the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education on June 1.

"We will be training teachers and administrators on looking at data, analyzing this data and taking next steps to improve instruction in all of the buildings," Ekstrom said. "The administrators have had two days of data training in preparation for the upcoming school year.

"The administrators have also been certified as trainers through a safety program, which also included our local police and fire departments. We will be providing this training collaboratively with the local officials to all of the teachers and parents in the fall."

Boylston Elementary School

"We have been able to hire a new technology teacher at the elementary school, which will provide students with a formal technology class once a week, which is the same as the related arts classes," Ekstrom said.

"We have been able to schedule 90-minute literacy blocks in the elementary schools, which is quite new this year, as it is a strategy to ensure all supports are occurring for literacy during this time. There will also be a 30-minute additional intervention block, at which time the students will be grouped in a flexible setting allowing for students to be learning from their peers at different grade levels."

In addition, the new McGraw-Hill literacy program will be implemented this year for grades K to 5, and there will be a parent portal for parents to work with their children for additional encouragement in their reading, Ekstrom said.

"In the late fall, we will have a parent literacy event. During this school year, we have hired Sally Grimes, a nationally known literacy specialist, to provide coaching to our elementary teachers," she said.

This year, some teachers in each building will pilot a parent portal for student information system, Powergrade.

"This will provide parents with access to their child's grades throughout the year. We will have teachers provide feedback as well as parents to determine how we can roll this feature out to all parents the following year," Ekstrom said.

Schools will also be asking all parents to revise their emergency information through this system, so it will be corrected in one database throughout all three districts. This will eliminate the "emergency cards," except for those families who do not have access to the internet, Ekstrom said.